The large stone table in the middle of the courtyard was piled high with food.
Steam billowed from the kitchen as Saina strode out carrying the last large iron basin, filled with a generous serving of braised free-range chicken.
She slammed the iron basin down in the center of the stone table.
"This chicken's nice and fat! I picked it out at the market by the wings!" Saina casually wiped her hands on her coarse apron and shouted at the top of her lungs.
The table had long since been crammed with all kinds of dishes. On the left was thickly sliced pork with mashed garlic, on the right a huge basin of soy-red stewed ribs, with three or four plates of bright green stir-fried vegetables squeezed in around them.
This could hardly be called a proper wedding feast. There was not even a single red double-happiness character pasted up.
But in this courtyard, having plenty of meat was the grandest display of all.
Su Li stood beneath the trunk of the massive ginkgo tree in the back courtyard. Today, he had flatly refused to wear the expensive noble formalwear Elena had forced on him, instead pulling on the old jacket he usually wore for work. There were even specks of black soot from forging a few days ago still stuck to the edges of its sleeves.
Elonore stood opposite him.
She wore the white silk gown Elena had cut that very morning.
Its waist had been drawn in tight, fully emphasizing her slender, willow-like figure. Her silver-white hair was loosely tied behind her head with nothing but a plain ribbon.
The little girl was terribly uneasy. Her hands were folded before her, her fingers endlessly picking at the seams of her dress.
This was a proper bride entering her